1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to filling bagels and breads by injection of foodstuffs where the outer surface of the bagel or bread is cooked or baked so as to be harder than the interior at the time of filling.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Bagels are made by a process which creates a doughnut or toroidal shaped bakery product having a hard outer crust with a distinctive xe2x80x9cbagelxe2x80x9d taste. Such products are characteristically cut open by slicing them across their width on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the toroid and spreading cream cheese or the like on them.
The hard crust requires that the slicing be done with a sharp knife, which can be hazardous, or by tearing the product in half with the hands. Such a tearing maneuver is usually awkward and does not result in the desired planar cut.
Spreading the cream cheese on the sliced bagel can be tedious, especially when the cheese is cold and has been stored in a refrigerator of course, bagel stores or delicatessens have spread many other types of foods on the sliced bagel that are more easily spreadable than cold cream cheese.
Bagels are made from a yeast dough, which is first boiled in water to close the pores of the dough, then baked in a hot oven to turn the crust golden brown. The dough is worked on a flour board and set in a warm place to rise, then kneaded again before being formed into rings. The rings are formed from balls of the risen dough, either by poking a hole through the center of each ball or by rolling each ball into a long strip, shaping it into a ring and then pressing the ends together.
If the dough is kept in a long strip rather than shaped subsequently into a ring, it appears cylindricalxe2x80x94it may be sliced after baking to reveal an open face and foodstuffs may be spread on this open face.
Nevertheless, one of the problems associated with eating a sliced bagel with foodstuff spread is that the foodstuff spread may spill out. This is particularly troublesome to a child, who may not take sufficient care to prevent spillage and wind up spilling the spread over his/her clothing. Even a hurried commuter could wind up spilling spread on clothing while biting into the bagel. Similar problems of spillage arise with elongated breads that are sliced longitudinally with a spread applied to their open faces. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide foodstuff spread onto a bagel or bread product in a manner that avoids the risk of spillage of the spread while the bagel is being eaten.
Filling of bakery products such as donuts or other pastries through injection from a spout or nozzle is known and equipment is available from manufacturers such as Edhard Corporation of Harrison, N.J. Edhard sells power bases (server P and PS) and interchangeable filler units (Serversxe2x88x92F, FS, RP) and recommends a list of dispensable foodstuffs, such as eggs, butter, cream cheese and tomato paste. To fill donuts or croissants, the spout or nozzle is shrouded by the donut or croissant and then the filling is injected through the spout or nozzle into the interior. For non-pastry items such as breads, its catalog shows a bread roll sliced and then buttered by dispensing the butter onto the sliced open face. It does not show injection of foodstuff into the bread.
One aspect of the invention lies in a method of filling bagels or breads with foodstuff. The bagel or bread product has an outer surface and a softer interior. This interior is softer than and bounded by the outer surface. The outer surface is harder because the bagel or bread product is fully or partially cooked or baked. The method comprises the steps of:
(a) moving at least one of the bagel or bread product and the spout relative to each other in a withdrawing direction to leave a portion of a channel free of the spout, the channel extending in a direction of elongation of the outer surface of the bagel/bread;
(b) filling the portion of the channel with foodstuff by injecting the foodstuff through an end of the spout that faces the portion of the channel so that the foodstuff fills the portion of the channel; and
(c) separating the filled bagel or bread product from the spout by moving at least one of the bagel/bread and the spout relative to each other in the withdrawing direction.
Preferably, the filling takes place as the bagel or bread product is being withdrawn from the spout in stages: the foodstuff is squirted or discharged from the spout at each stage along the length of the bagel or bread product so that the foodstuff dispenses into the open channel to fill it up.